Saturday Night Live: Jeff Bridges/Eminem, Lil Wayne (12/18/10)

by Brendan Wahl

(Season 36, Episode 10)

Well we’ve hit the break, folks. After ten episodes, it is time for the annual holiday break for Saturday Night Live cast and crew a like until January 3rd when they will prepare for the next episode when they return on the air. Oh, and that episode? Well, it’s set to be hosted by an actor named Jim Carrey. Maybe you’ve heard of him. Yes, that’s right. Jim freakin’ Carrey will be making his second hosting appearance on January 8th with musical guest the Black Keys. It promises to be an outstanding show. That is not to take away from the lineup being offered to us with this week’s episode.

The Dude himself, Jeff Bridges, seems like one of the most laid-back and amiable people working in Hollywood today. It’s somewhat of a surprise then that he’s only gotten the opportunity to host once before (in 1983, where he did a fairly good job) because he seems like a guy who would be up for pretty much anything. Bridges is here to promote two films: Tron: Legacy, which is already breaking records at the box office, and his upcoming Coen Brothers remake of True Grit, a film that holds a lot of promise, at least in my opinion.

Joining Bridges are two musical guests that are slightly less than laid-back. First up is Eminem, making his fifth appearance on the show ready to showcase his new meaner side that we aren’t so accustomed to. Joining him is Lil Wayne. After a banal performance during the season premiere two years ago, Wayne looks to redeem himself a bit this time and hopefully with the assistance of Eminem, he can pull it off.

CHRISTMAS START!

The Show:

1. Christmas Eve in Washington (2:40)
-Armisen, Samberg, Sudeikis, Thompson, Wiig, Bayer

Frosty the Snowman (Thompson) introduces a series of quick clips of several key members of the office looking out the window and dreaming about better headlines in the new year ahead. Whether it’s President Obama (Armisen) imagining lower unemployment and WikiLeaks telling everyone that John McCain is a Muslim, Hillary Clinton (Bayer) thinking about switching jobs with the pres, or Joe Biden (Sudeikis) beaming at the thought of trading jobs with Batman, it was a very funny short and sweet opening. A-

2. Monologue (5:09)

Jeff tries to separate his own personality from that of the Dude’s but of course, its way too similar. The real meat of the monologue though is the Starman bringing out SNL hopeful Cookie Monster to sing along with him to “Silver Bells.” It was a pretty cutesy segment but aw shucks, it was pretty amusing. B

3. Assange Attacks Mark Zuckerberg (2:10)
-Hader, Samberg

Before the Facebook founder himself (Samberg) can truly comment on how he feels being named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange (Hader) interrupts again to point out how ridiculous it is that Zuckerberg took that honour over himself. Assange has a point and the segment resulted in another funny piece by Hader. B+

4. The Miley Cyrus Show (4:50)
-Bridges, Moynihan, Sudeikis, Bayer, Brittain

In its third appearance, Miley (Bayer) does some more funny stuff including a segment in which she takes pictures of celebrities and puts them together to see if they had a baby (and that’s more-or-less what the segment is called). Cyrus of course discusses her “very serious five-minute drug problem” and then brings out Nick Nolte (Bridges) as her guest to discuss his own past drug abuse problems. Jeff doesn’t have to stretch too much to do the Nick Nolte impression, but it’s funny nonetheless. The sketch itself is pretty much settled into a formula now but there’s enough goofiness to keep it entertaining. B+

5. Film: I Just Had Sex (2:52)
-Samberg + Akon, Jessica Alba, Blake Lively, & John McEnroe

The Lonely Island’s latest opus has Andy and Jorma rapping about their most recent sexual encounter (with Blake Lively and Jessica Alba, respectively, no less) with the assistance of Akon. It’s hard to get into too many details here, but I don’t see where the criticism comes from here. Akon looks like he’s having a hell of a time and the crew create another fun, catchy song. B+

6. Larry King Live (4:48)
-Bridges, Armisen, Elliott, Thompson, Wiig

After taping his last show, Larry King (Armisen) returns for one more show with Jermaine Jackson (Thompson), the Judds (Elliott & Wiig), and Dog the Bounty Hunter (a hilarious Bridges). The usual stuff happens with King’s senility as he questions Jermaine if he has any siblings and also wants to know which of the Judds is the mother. There’s a few amusing things here as Dog cries in a very scary way and this acts as a great swan song for Armisen’s spot-on Larry King impression. Larry’s daily routine is a hoot as well. A-

7. Crunkmas Karnival! (2:37)
-Moynihan, Sudeikis, Pedrad, Pharoah

Following in the tradition of the Under Underground Records ad, DJ Super Soak (Sudeikis) and Lil Blaster (Pedrad) shill for their big Crunkmas three-day concert. Ass Dan (Moynihan) makes another hilarious appearance and then Pharoah shows up to do a funny bit as MC George Costanza. The most fun comes from all the random events and guests that will be at the event though. Quickly becoming one of my favourite recurring bits. A

8. Eminem & Lil Wayne sing “No Love” (4:59)

The two mega-stars rap with each other with a little “What Is Love” thrown in the background, which made me think: how great would it have been if Ferrell and Kattan interrupted as their Roxbury characters? Of course Em would never let that go down. All that aside, it’s still a good performance from both rappers. A-

9. Weekend Update with Seth Meyers (9:25)
-Also: Fred Armisen, Abby Elliott, Bill Hader, Bobby Moynihan, Kenan Thompson, & Taran Killam

Seth’s Harvard joke is one of the highlights of this week’s so-so edition of Update. While the jokes were sharp and witty for the most part, the commentaries left a little to be desired. Michael Steele (Thompson) stops by to talk about running for a second term and his recent defection to the Tea Party in a segment that goes nowhere; likewise, Brad Pitt (Killam) becomes the new weatherman before he is joined by Angelina (Elliott) with another baby. It’s certainly not a great Brad Pitt impression, but it was amusing nonetheless mostly thanks to Killam’s performance abilities. It’s another segment that really doesn’t do much for me either though. Update ends on a high note though with an appearance by three regulars in Stefon (Hader), David Paterson (Armisen), and Snooki (Moynihan) singing “Oh Christmas Tree,” with some funny interaction in between the verses. B-

10. This You Call Wonderful Life?! (4:33)
-Bridges, Armisen, Elliott, Hader, Moynihan, Samberg, Sudeikis, Wiig, Bayer, Brittain, Killam, Pedrad

Presenting the original version of It’s A Wonderful Life, Ben Mankiewicz (Hader) shows the all-Jewish rendition of the film. It’s essentially another version of the Wizard of Oz sketch from the Anne Hathaway episode but this one works a lot better as for some reason, this mish-mash works a lot better with this film. Our host also stops by to make a funny appearance as the rabbi and gives ol’ George Bailey (Sudeikis) some much-needed advice. B+

11. Jeff’d (4:15)
-Bridges, Elliott, Samberg, Sudeikis, Thompson, Brittain, Killam

Spoofing Ashton Kutcher’s once-popular celebrity prank show, Bridges puts his laid-back persona on display as he performs some pretty light-hearted pranks on his old pals like Sam Elliott (Sudeikis), Maggie Gyllenhaal (Elliott), but the best one is Billy Bob Thornton (Samberg), who appears to have some other plans for our host. This was okay, but the sketch was a little too late to work as a Punk’d parody. Jeff was affable though. C+

12. Eminem sings “Won’t Back Down”; Lil Wayne sings “6’7″ (6:14)

-Eminem runs through his hit single and tears the house down before switching off with Lil Wayne, so that the two-time guest can perform a hit of his own, although nothing as powerful as Em’s song. I’m impressed with Marshall’s new image and Wayne was a lot more impressive here than he was two years ago. B+

13. General Store (4:11)
-Bridges, Hader, Moynihan, Sudeikis, Wiig, Bayer

In the old West, two weirdos (Bridges & Wiig) have set up shop in the corner of a general store in order to gift-wrap presents for the customers. It’s an oddball sketch that is okay I guess, but the sketch really owes it to Jeff’s bizarre performance as the developmentally-challenged clerk. C

14. A Holiday Message from The Kardashians (1:54)
-Elliott, Bayer, Pedrad

Kim (Pedrad), Kourtney (Bayer), and Khloe (Elliott) wish everyone a happy holidays and gush over the fact that they’re famous for nothing. I enjoyed this much like their other appearance on Update a while back. B

Jeff waves goodbye and enthusiastically thanks everyone on stage for helpin’ him out tonight.

I really didn’t know how Jeff would do but it was obvious he wouldn’t be as stiff as, say, a Robert DeNiro type but I wasn’t sure if he would be a slam-bang great host. He was pretty darn good I’d say and he did better than most upper-echelon actors on the show normally perform. It’s hard to remember how good Bridges was in his previous hosting stint, but if I remember correctly he was good but somewhat restrained and limited. Here, he seemed to have a lot of fun hosting the Christmas show (and we got quite a large number of Christmas sketches too!) and seemed to be pretty open for anything.

Eminem and Lil Wayne were quite surprising to me, but moreso in the case of the latter performer. Where Wayne’s first stint was lazy and reeked of unpreparedness, he dazzled this time with a much more solid work ethic and some good ol’ fashioned rapping. Eminem was as good as you’d expect as he performed in what was probably his gloomiest appearance on the show and even though he slightly upstaged his partner, the duo had good chemistry and put Diddy Dirty-Money to shame.

All in all, it was a decent Christmas episode. Last week’s act was hard to follow up, but they tried their best this week and ended up with a handful of funny sketches and a couple of meh-worthy ones. Thanks to a willing host, a good musical guest combination, and mostly no cast burnout, we got a pretty entertaining show this week and a good way to end the first half of the season.

I’m not sure if I’ll be back every week to review retro SNLs. I’ll be doing one this Thursday but then after that I may take a break until after the Holidays. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Joyous Kwanzaa everybody!

Host Rating: B+
Musical Guest Rating – Eminem: A-
Musical Guest Rating – Lil Wayne: B+
Show Rating: B/B+

SNL Retro: Charles Grodin/Paul Simon (10/29/77)

by Brendan Wahl

(Season 3, Episode 4)

Why do we love Saturday Night Live? Is it because every show is different? Is it because every episode has a magical wacky twist that makes each individual sketch entirely original every single night? No, hardly. It’s because every show has the same basic set-up, maybe screws with the format every once in a while, usually tosses in at least a couple of recurring sketches/characters, and tops it off with a couple of musical performances. It’s a tried-and-true formula that has stood the test of time and has proven that people like repetition, as much as we’d like to deny that fact. This episode, however, stands out because it takes the regular formula of the show and jiggles it a bit to get something slightly different.

Charles Grodin did not do well on talk shows. He was always thought of as someone who was easily annoyed, was very fidgety, and always looked like he would have rather been somewhere else. However, this was all an act by Grodin as he was pulling Borat-like stunts on the audience before Borat was even a teenager. Grodin was also known for being in the film Rosemary’s Baby at the time.

Joining Chuck is SNL favourite Paul Simon, making his second appearance as musical guest (he pulled double duty in Season 2 and he was technically just the “host” in Season 1). Simon would appear on the show somewhat frequently during the years (although his next appearance wouldn’t be until Season 5) and was a very good friend of Lorne Michaels, so he was a sort of go-to guest that Lorne could have on the show. Paul would also get to join in on the experiment that is Charles Grodin, but more on that later.

GO!

The Show:

1. Unprepared Host (3:05)
-Grodin, Belushi, Morris, Radner

As John paces around, Gilda tries to calm him down while they await the arrival of their tardy host. When Chuck eventually shows up, he brings some gifts for the cast and is dumbfounded by the announcement by Belushi that he needs to have a monologue prepared. Clearly, Grodin is not at all ready for the show as he is not even aware that the program is live and that there is a studio audience. The fun begins as John is exasperated at Chuck’s unprofessional behaviour and begrudgingly opens the show. B+

2. Monologue (1:21)

Like a deer in headlights, Grodin stumbles through his monologue and admits to having never seen the show, but says he heard it’s “a really cute show.” There’s not much more to this, but it does set up a running theme for the show. B

3. Update Promo (:41)
-Aykroyd

A serious newsman like Dan Aykroyd is ready to constantly be on the lookout for news stories 24 hours a day and 7 days a week whether he has paper in his typewriter or not. B

4. Return Of The Coneheads (5:03)
-Aykroyd, Curtin, Murray, Newman, Radner

The sixth appearance of the Coneheads sees them participating in Halloween festivities including Connie’s (Newman) attempt to convince her parents (Aykroyd & Curtin) to allow her to go apple-bobbing. Before Connie can leave though, the Coneheads’ neighbours/block parents (Murray & Radner) come over to the house to inquire as to why the family from France was giving out beer and eggs to trick-or-treaters. More goofy fun from the pointy-headed family and the sketch was relatively short for a Coneheads piece. A-

5. Chuck’s Film (2:10)
-Grodin

Grodin plans to promote his new heist flick, but takes way too long to introduce it and thus, he only gets to show about five seconds of the film. Grodin asks if he can sing his song, but Lorne Michaels’ voice comes over the PA and he asks Grodin to speed it along and just introduce the musical guest, so he obliges. This is another funny continuation of the Grodin storyline thanks to a very convincingly bad performance from our host. B+

6. Paul Simon sings “Slip Slidin’ Away” (4:27)

The always-reliable Simon strums away on one of his top hits. Simon also gets some accompaniment from The Persuasions, who perform ample support to Paul’s dazzling tune. A

7. Consumer Probe (4:39)
-Aykroyd, Curtin

An absolute classic. Joan Face (Curtin) welcomes sleazeball extraordinaire Irwin Mainway (Aykroyd) to demonstrate his line of unsafe Halloween costumes. Aykroyd is on top of his game here as Mainway, the ultimate unlikeable character, seemingly uncaring of any criticisms he has received but is also quick to defend himself with ridiculous reasons. There are some classic costumes like Invisible Pedestrian and Johnny Combat Action Costume (with a real, working rifle), but the best is Johnny Human Torch (a bag of oily rags and a lighter). Curtin is perfect foil for Danny in this near-perfect sketch that acts as a companion piece to the Irwin Mainway sketch from last year with Candice Bergen. A+

8. Anyone Can Host (1:42)
-Murray

This week, it’s Bill Murray’s turn to hype the Anyone Can Host contest while Mr. Mike tears up some postcards in the background for silly reasons like “uneven margins” and “unattractive stamp.” This week, we get a bit more of a jokey sketch involving the contest and Mr. Mike provides a few funny zingers. B+

9. Samurai Dry Cleaners (2:38)
-Grodin, Belushi, Radner

Chuck finally shows up in a proper sketch as he and Gilda arrive to pick up their dry cleaning from Futaba (Belushi). They run through the usual motions with the character, but the sketch is thrown for a loop when Charles breaks character several times and even reads the wrong lines at one point. Gilda signals for the sketch to end early as she and Charles leave the set and Belushi is visibly upset. A-

10. Weekend Update with Dan Aykroyd & Jane Curtin (8:53)
Also: Garrett Morris and Bill Murray

Another funny exchange with Don Pardo opens up this week’s edition of Weekend Update, followed by a funny piece on a so-called authentic Bigfoot film by Curtin. In fact, there’s lots of good jokes by both anchors this week including a picture of the Mona Lisa appearing during a story about Cher Bono and the FDA changing its name. The Dancing N stops by early on to drop off a bulletin (“No bulletin today. I just felt like dancing.”) Dan & Jane then join in on the fun briefly before Bill Murray stops by to give a negative review of one-man shows, dismissing them as being excuses for an actor’s ego trip. It’s another terrific performance from Murray with his smarmy Update commentaries and it’s a great ironic piece as well in tune with Bill’s delivery. We also get “News for the Silent Movie Buff,” which features Aykroyd telling a story with exaggerated gestures while words float by on the screen. It’s a simple little piece, but entertaining all the same. Also, Special Agent Willard Jackson (Morris) stops by to comment on the Jimmy Hoffa disappearance. Unfortunately, it doesn’t really lead to any real evidence and in fact, all Jackson can provide is a number of bones from people like Amelia Earhart. It’s another terrific edition of Update. A

11. Simon & Garfunkel (5:57)
-Grodin, Simon, Art Garfunkel

Sitting on stage alongside Simon and donning a big orange wig, Charles croons along with the musical guest, singing “The Sounds of Silence.” Of course, Grodin doesn’t even know the words and has to slowly follow behind Simon’s singing. Paul’s deadpan performance here is perfect as he is offput by Charles’ terribly off-kilter performance. Paul eventually leaves Charles on stage, but this only causes our host to attempt to perform a solo, before he is interrupted by Art Garfunkel himself. Another classic segment. A+

12. The Killer Bees (7:51)
-Grodin, Aykroyd, Belushi, Morris, Murray, Radner

This is the straw that breaks Belushi’s back. After earlier ruining his Samurai sketch, Grodin points out the interesting bee costumes and how their antennas are incredibly distracting while he tries to perform. And then Belushi snaps. Donned in his Eli Wallach-like apparel, Belushi delivers an impassioned speech about how Grodin has ruined the scene and that he is the “lamest host we’ve ever had.” It comes to the forefront that the host missed the dress rehearsal and the antennas flopping around makes the “serious” speech that much funnier. A

13. The Judy Miller Show (4:47)
-Curtin (voice), Radner

Gilda debuts her spastic child character Judy Miller, who is so bored by herself that she hosts her own variety show in her room, showcasing a number of different characters and skits, based on her childlike interpretation of various world events and pop culture. This is a highlight reel in itself for Gilda, who finds a balance between cuteness and hilarity that hits the perfect note. This is yet another perfect sketch in a series of them tonight. A+

14. Professional School Of Football (2:03)
-Morris

A spokesperson (Morris) advertises his new book that will help one become a football player so that they can date movie stars and be famous. I enjoyed how Morris kept going back to the constant groin injuries in football. B

15. Paul Simon sings “You’re Kind” (2:39)

More goodness from Paul here, as he sings a slower tune this time with the help of some backup harmonica and some good instrumental work from the Persuasions. It’s no wonder that Simon was a perennial favourite of the show. A

16. Hire The Incompetent (4:15)
-Grodin, Murray, Newman, Radner

Charles introduces a string of testimonies from several “incompetents,” who have lost their jobs because of prejudices against their stupid decisions. From Murray’s stint as a bag boy and putting eggs underneath heavy stuff, Newman not helping her pilot boyfriend as an air traffic controller, and Roseanne Rosannadanna (Radner) explaining that she got in trouble for putting hair in people’s burgers. It’s the debut for Roseanne and it’s a funny one too, as she would make lots of funny upcoming appearances. Charles almost gets suckered into admitting his poor hosting abilities, but catches on and finally gets to perform his song, a quick ode to life. It’s another great sketch to end the show. A

Even continuing the joke into the goodnights, Chuck & the cast seem distanced from each other after Grodin says that it was just a gag. He thanks the cast, Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel, and awkwardly waves goodnight.

Here’s the thing about this episode. Apparently, the truth is that Charles Grodin truly DIDN’T show up for a lot of the rehearsals. Rather than fighting it and having a mediocre show with an only somewhat-motivated host, the show went a much different, more unique route. Charles was instructed to ad-lib many of his lines and thus create a much more authentic atmosphere of a show gone horribly wrong in a live setting thanks to a completely unprepared host. In that regard, Charles was a very effective ringleader and turned in a very convincing performance as someone that had no business being in this environment.

Paul Simon was a fantastic musical guest and his one sketch with Grodin really showed his ability to do some deadpan acting as well. In fact, that moment with Simon & “Garfunkel” ranks up there as one of my favourite moments in the show’s history. The Persuasions also showed up to back Simon and they provided some ample support as well.

It’s difficult to single out the most effective player this time, but I’m going to narrow it down to two people: John Belushi and Gilda Radner. From Belushi’s performances in the show and his eventual meltdown in the “Killer Bees” piece, he really had a large part in the unique running theme and held it together well. Gilda acted as Grodin’s guide throughout the night, however, and also had a big part in this episode. She managed to debut her Judy Miller character as well and that in itself was probably the best performance of the night.

This episode was, quite frankly, a classic.

Notes:

“Hey Glenda! Hey Blunjy!”

“Invisible Pedestrian. Not for blind kids.”

I wonder how many people in the viewing audience totally bought into this hoax.

Host Rating: A-

Musical Guest Rating: A

Show Rating: A+

SNL Retros moved to Thursdays!

Just like it says. I will now be doing my SNL Retro reviews every Thursday instead of Wednesday. See you tomorrow, kiddies!